Continuum of 8x24: Booth Tells Brennan the Secret
by audvan90
Summary: At the end of season 8, Booth has to turn Brennan down on her marriage proposal because Pelant threatened Booth. This is an extension of the episode.


It was the next morning and Brennan woke up alone in the bed she and Booth shared. She could hear Christine playing downstairs and decided to see what's going on. As she descended the stairs, she remembered the agony of the conversation she had with Booth last night.

_He was so excited when I asked,_ she thought. _Why did he suddenly decide against marrying me? _She turned the corner as she got to the bottom of the stairs and saw Booth sitting on the couch doing a crossword puzzle. It looked as if he hadn't slept much last night. _That makes two of us… and not for the usual reason, _she thought to herself.

Brennan coming down the stairs caught Booth's attention. He looked up at her and gave her a little smile. "Christine is helping me with the crossword," he said as Christine bounced up and down on the couch with her giraffe in hand. Brennan went over to the couch and sat on the opposite side of Christine.

"Did you sleep well?" Brennan asked Booth after a few moments of silence.

"Not really. I've just been thinking about last night. Listen, Bones-"

"Booth," she interrupted, "I understand why you said no. It was irrational for me to even ask and – and I just shouldn't have."

Booth could see her eyes tearing up as she looked away. She cleared her throat and blinked quickly a few times. "Are you hungry? I can make breakfast," she said quickly to change the topic.

"No," Booth said, "Not really but I made some coffee for you just the way you like it."

"Okay, thank you."

Brennan kissed Christine on the forehead, stood up and went to the kitchen. She retrieved her coffee cup from the cupboard. As she poured the coffee her mind again wandered to last night. _He was so ecstatic all day and then he switched to somber in the blink of an eye. What did I do? _She thought.

Brennan noticed that she'd already poured her creamer and sugar into her coffee. How long had she been standing there? Hoping that she at least poured the correct ratio she stirred the coffee with the same spoon Booth had used to stir his and then laid it in the sink.

She decided to lean against the counter and look at her little family. _It was perfect before, and will always be perfect... Even if I never get to be Booth's wife, _she thought.

Christine was overjoyed to be chewing on her giraffe while sitting next to her Dad. Booth was sitting in the same place on the couch but had shifted to write an answer in his crossword puzzle. Brennan walked over one of the seats at the kitchen island and sat down, gradually sipping at her coffee and thinking to herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Booth stand up.

"I'll be right back, baby. I'm just going to talk to Mommy for a second, k?" Booth said to Christine. He then turned around and walked towards Brennan, newspaper and pencil in hand.

This time she smiled at him first and he smiled back. Though they both still got butterflies when seeing each other smile, there was quite a bit of tension between the two since last night's conversation. Will it ever be the way it was before?

Booth moved the chair to Brennan's right over about two feet and stood next to her. He set the newspaper down in front of her, and turned to face her. He looked her in the eye and slightly raised his eyebrows and looked at her with piercing eyes. Brennan thought he looked as if he were trying to communicate with her telepathically… if that were even possible, anyway.

"Can you try and get 16 across for me?" Booth asked her.

Brennan ever-so-slightly squinted her eyes at him in confusion and said, "Of course."

She looked at the puzzle and then it clicked in her mind as to why Booth was looking at her so strangely. Instead of writing in answers like Brennan thought he was doing, he had written his own message across the boxes of the puzzle.

Booth watched as she looked at the puzzle.

It read, 'I'm sorry. He told me

to say no or he'd murder 5 people.

I love you. Will you

still marry me?'

Brennan immediately understood why he'd written it on the crossword so she contemplated what to say in case they were being watched at this very moment. She almost couldn't think clearly due to her excitement and sudden uneasiness at the thought of Pelant.

After thinking carefully she said, "The answer is 'high water," and handed the puzzle back to him.

"What?" Booth asked, taking the puzzle.

"High water. Like 'Come Hell or 'High Water," she replied with a grin.

Booth could see that the light was back in her eyes. She understood his message and why he had to say no and she played along perfectly.

Not wanting to spoil the moment or give themselves away, both smiled at each other. Booth turned and went back to his place on the couch. Brennan finished her coffee, put her cup in the sink and joined her #1 and #2 favorite people in the living room.


End file.
